Mixed fortunes in away fixtures

Golden Bay’s three senior football teams all took on sides from Nelson Suburbs FC last Saturday at Saxton Fields. Despite playing away from home, GBAFC returned with two wins and more precious points in the bag.

Goats return to winning ways

Going into their Men’s Division 2 fixture, Nelson Suburbs U17 and Golden Bay’s Mountain Goats stood level on points in Nelson Bays. But after a 90-minute ding-dong battle it was the Goats who snatched victory with a late goal to win 5-4 and cement second place in the standings.

The youthful Suburbs fielded an experienced goalkeeper who blocked numerous shots throughout the game, but he couldn’t stop first-half strikes from Jaden Thompson and skipper captain Danyon Fleming.

At half-time, honours were even with the score at 2-2 but shortly after the restart, as the Goats pressed for another goal, it was Suburbs who scored first. The Bay side responded but were unable to beat the Suburbs’ stopper until a free kick, taken by Guillaume Thomas found birthday boy Lee Mckenna who headed the ball into the top corner of the goal to level the scores. Suburbs soon re-established their lead but it only lasted until the Goats were awarded a penalty after Jaden Thompson was taken down in the box minutes later. Maxime Devaux fired the ball into the back of the net from the spot bringing the score to 4-4 before Man of the Match Mckenna doubled his tally, and clinched a 5-4 victory for the Goats with minutes to spare.

Stingrays hold on to lead

In the Masters competition, Golden Bay Stingrays inflicted more pain on Nelson Suburbs FC Masters Utd who have now lost four of their five opening fixtures this season.

Despite the soft, muddy playing surface the Stingrays kept control of the ball and pressed forward to threaten United's goal. After 10 minutes of relentless attacking play, Sam Hopley opened the scoring for the Stingrays, latching on to a quality through ball from Pete van der Meer before slotting it neatly into the corner of the goal. Hopley soon added another to take his season’s total to nine goals, when he netted a cross from Gonzalo Vazquez following the Chilean’s superb chip over the home side’s keeper.

In the second half, the Stingrays were determined not to allow a repeat of last week’s second half catch up by the Bogans, and maintained their composure while displaying some tidy passing. Cheered on by their supporters the Stingrays struck again when Chris von Roy put a ball across the box which Rob Anderson deftly met with his heel – a spectacular goal which brought the supporters to their feet.

United deservedly got a goal back almost at the end of the game, with a screamer that Stingrays' keeper Phil Smith could do nothing about. But it was too little too late. Final score 3-1 to the Stingrays. Roli Muntwyler Man of the Match: Pete van der Meer.

Shield Maidens suffer against Suburbs

In the Women’s Premiership, Golden Bay’s Shield Maidens faced high-flying Suburbs Reserves. The Maidens, who are suffering a dip in their goal-scoring form following an excellent start to the season, were unable to find the net and the game ended with the home side registering a 5-0 win which puts them at the top of the table.